Debunking the myths behind why Leices

BLOG: Debunking the myths behind why Leicester City cannot win Premier League title

I've had enough. I know it's Christmas, and the time for goodwill, but I don't care. I cannot bear to hear any more excuses as to why Leicester City cannot win the Premier League title. Especially, when those reasons are so psychopathic rage-inducingly unfounded.

That's not to say they will win it. They probably won't. But it is ridiculous not to consider them contenders. I was listening to the Sunday Supplement last week, just after City had gone five points clear at the top with a win at Everton, and one national journalist scoffed: "If Leicester do keep winning, we really will have to take them seriously soon."

Soon. Not that the halfway point is approaching or anything. But why, though, are pundits still not taking the Christmas leaders seriously?

I have broken it down into the most common excuses given as to why City, ultimately, are destined to fail. And tried to explain why, actually, it's nonsense.
The next person who says Leicester City have been "fortunate" or "blessed" with their lack of injuries, I will lock in a cryo chamber until they freeze to death.

Granted, if Jamie Vardy or Riyad Mahrez have their legs broken by a horror tackle from some maniacal centre-back, there is not much they can do. But City put an incredible amount of time, research and money into their sports science and medical departments.

The level to which the staff, as a whole, go to ensure the players remain fit and on the top of their game is staggering.

Even the hardness and temperature of the pitches at the King Power Stadium and the training ground are measured every day to help avoid injuries. The club has a cryo chamber to assist players recover from games and niggles.

That is not to say other teams don't invest heavily in their medical departments. But Leicester have the injury record to show for it season after season after season. Compare that to, say, Arsenal who never seem to be without bundles of their squad on the treatment table.

City are leaders in the field. Last year, City's head physio Dave Rennie and sports scientist Matt Reeves hosted a conference at the club's training ground where they shared their secrets with more than 100 delegates from other clubs, the FA and Uefa.

A journalist once asked former boss Nigel Pearson if his Championship-winning side "had been lucky" because they had suffered very few injuries that season.

Pearson stared back at him. "You've asked the wrong question there, lad."

It is not luck.
There is no denying that serious injuries to Jamie Vardy or Riyad Mahrez would deal a serious blow to City's title challenge. The pair have scored more goals between them (28) than 81 of the 98 teams in Europe's top five divisions.

The loss of such influential players would harm any side. Just look at Man City without Sergio Aguero and, especially, Vincent Kompany.

City, though, won at Norwich without Mahrez, and did again at Everton without either Robert Huth or Danny Drinkwater – two of the most influential players in the squad.

I would still add another striker in January, more specifically a No.10, but behind Vardy they have Shinji Okazaki, Japan's leading goalscorer, Leonardo Ulloa, who scored 11 goals in his debut Premier League campaign last season, and Andrej Kramaric, out of favour but with a prolific goal record.

City's back-up central midfielders are two internationals in Andy King and Switzerland captain Gokhan Inler. Nathan Dyer, a proven Premier League winger, and the explosive Jeff Schlupp offer cover on either flank.

Marcin Wasilewski showed he is a more than capable replacement at centre-back while Yohan Benalouane waits behind him. City should possibly look to add a more complete right-back as Danny Simpson is solid defensively but offers little going forward, while Ritchie De Laet embodies the opposite.

Christian Fuchs is a class act at left-back and has 19-year-old Ben Chilwell waiting in the wings. Chilwell has already played for England's U21s, captained the U20s, and is receiving rave reviews on loan at Huddersfield. He is a star of the future.

That sounds a pretty strong squad to me, thank you very much.
An amusing reason to explain away City's success, bearing in mind that we are just two games away from the halfway point in the season.

What they mean, though, is that City have still got some massive away games to come. Ranieri's side have got to play the six teams below them on their own turf. They have got to go to the Emirates, Old Trafford, the Etihad, White Hart Lane, Selhurst Park, Vicarage Road...as well as Anfield and Stamford Bridge.

But why is that a problem? Leicester are fantastic on the road, so vibrant on the counter-attack. If City win at Anfield, they would equal the club's best run of five consecutive away league wins and would match their longest unbeaten streak on the road of 13 matches. There is nothing to fear.

City have got some testing away games. But so have Arsenal. They've still got to go to Liverpool, United, Tottenham, Everton, and Man City.

Leicester, too, have one huge advantage. They don't have to play Leicester. Don't underestimate that.

Okay, but no one is expecting Leicester to win now. What about when that changes. How will they deal with that pressure?

Who knows. They haven't battled for a Premier League title before. But the club's recent history would suggest they just might be able to hack it.

Take last season. When they were under the most intense of pressures, fighting for their lives after months at the bottom, they performed. They won seven of their last nine games, right when it mattered.

And, don't forget, 10 of City's squad were at the club when they marched to the Championship crown in style two seasons ago.

Half of those make up the spine of the current team: goalkeeper Schmeichel, captain and centre-back Wes Morgan, influential midfielder Danny Drinkwater as well as goal machines Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

Yes, it might not have been the Premier League trophy they lifted, but these players know what it takes to win titles. Do Arsenal's

comment by Baz tard (U19119)
posted 17 minutes ago
Feyenoord- not arguing that point, as the money awarded in the Prem makes a mockery of the how badly we do in Europe, but in relative terms compared to the money at the other end of the table, it would be great for someone outside the excessively funded 'regulars' to win it.
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Fair point

Leicester win 6 more games all season.

Book it.

As refreshing as it would be for Leicester to win it, I still think you will do very well to finish in the top 4 come May.

When things are going well it's very hard to see it going sour. We had a thread about when we'd next lose a game, Everton away being benchmarked a the toughie in the New Year, then BANG....Newcastle beat us at home the very next game. The Black Swan is always around the corner.

If I take you back to Christmas 2011, Spurs had and unbelievable run after a dodgy first two games - Adebayor was flying, Bale, van Der Vaart, Modric. We had 38pts from 17 games and were talked of as league winners. Around February a dodgy result v Arsenal set off a terrible run of form and we just about finished 4th after rallying in the last four games.

Leicester have benefitted from being the underdog so far, and teams maybe not taking them seriously enough and giving them the respect they deserve. You may see a different approach now you are official 'contenders'.

Football can be cruel, and it only takes a couple of bad results for a lead to evaporate. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Liverpool win today for example, and all of a sudden you'd look vulnerable with a trip to City (with Kompany, Silva and Aguero all fit) to come next, then a trip to WHL in the net year.

It wouldn't surprise me if you turned Liverpool over either to be fair . Enjoy i, just try to not get too carried away....I've seen it with our fans on many occasions, and the bigger you build yourself up, the harder the fall is to take

Our remaining home fixtures alone will yield more than six wins! Off the top of my head we've got City, Bmuff, Stoke, Norwich, Liverpool, Swansea, West Ham, West Brom, Newcastle, Southampton and Everton. Plenty if wins there.

comment by Baz tard (U19119)
posted 9 hours, 29 minutes ago
Feyenoord- not arguing that point, as the money awarded in the Prem makes a mockery of the how badly we do in Europe, but in relative terms compared to the money at the other end of the table, it would be great for someone outside the excessively funded 'regulars' to win it.
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This

Obviously there's still a lot to play for but i kinda like the fact that the large 'corporates' are being given a shock from some of the smaller 'independents'.
Keep up the good work

comment by cityfox (U1154)
posted 10 hours, 26 minutes ago
BLOG: Debunking the myths behind why Leicester City cannot win Premier League title

I've had enough. I know it's Christmas, and the time for goodwill, but I don't care. I cannot bear to hear any more excuses as to why Leicester City cannot win the Premier League title. Especially, when those reasons are so psychopathic rage-inducingly unfounded.

That's not to say they will win it. They probably won't. But it is ridiculous not to consider them contenders. I was listening to the Sunday Supplement last week, just after City had gone five points clear at the top with a win at Everton, and one national journalist scoffed: "If Leicester do keep winning, we really will have to take them seriously soon."

Soon. Not that the halfway point is approaching or anything. But why, though, are pundits still not taking the Christmas leaders seriously?

I have broken it down into the most common excuses given as to why City, ultimately, are destined to fail. And tried to explain why, actually, it's nonsense.
The next person who says Leicester City have been "fortunate" or "blessed" with their lack of injuries, I will lock in a cryo chamber until they freeze to death.

Granted, if Jamie Vardy or Riyad Mahrez have their legs broken by a horror tackle from some maniacal centre-back, there is not much they can do. But City put an incredible amount of time, research and money into their sports science and medical departments.

The level to which the staff, as a whole, go to ensure the players remain fit and on the top of their game is staggering.

Even the hardness and temperature of the pitches at the King Power Stadium and the training ground are measured every day to help avoid injuries. The club has a cryo chamber to assist players recover from games and niggles.

That is not to say other teams don't invest heavily in their medical departments. But Leicester have the injury record to show for it season after season after season. Compare that to, say, Arsenal who never seem to be without bundles of their squad on the treatment table.

City are leaders in the field. Last year, City's head physio Dave Rennie and sports scientist Matt Reeves hosted a conference at the club's training ground where they shared their secrets with more than 100 delegates from other clubs, the FA and Uefa.

A journalist once asked former boss Nigel Pearson if his Championship-winning side "had been lucky" because they had suffered very few injuries that season.

Pearson stared back at him. "You've asked the wrong question there, lad."

It is not luck.
There is no denying that serious injuries to Jamie Vardy or Riyad Mahrez would deal a serious blow to City's title challenge. The pair have scored more goals between them (28) than 81 of the 98 teams in Europe's top five divisions.

The loss of such influential players would harm any side. Just look at Man City without Sergio Aguero and, especially, Vincent Kompany.

City, though, won at Norwich without Mahrez, and did again at Everton without either Robert Huth or Danny Drinkwater – two of the most influential players in the squad.

I would still add another striker in January, more specifically a No.10, but behind Vardy they have Shinji Okazaki, Japan's leading goalscorer, Leonardo Ulloa, who scored 11 goals in his debut Premier League campaign last season, and Andrej Kramaric, out of favour but with a prolific goal record.

City's back-up central midfielders are two internationals in Andy King and Switzerland captain Gokhan Inler. Nathan Dyer, a proven Premier League winger, and the explosive Jeff Schlupp offer cover on either flank.

Marcin Wasilewski showed he is a more than capable replacement at centre-back while Yohan Benalouane waits behind him. City should possibly look to add a more complete right-back as Danny Simpson is solid defensively but offers little going forward, while Ritchie De Laet embodies the opposite.

Christian Fuchs is a class act at left-back and has 19-year-old Ben Chilwell waiting in the wings. Chilwell has already played for England's U21s, captained the U20s, and is receiving rave reviews on loan at Huddersfield. He is a star of the future.

That sounds a pretty strong squad to me, thank you very much.
An amusing reason to explain away City's success, bearing in mind that we are just two games away from the halfway point in the season.

What they mean, though, is that City have still got some massive away games to come. Ranieri's side have got to play the six teams below them on their own turf. They have got to go to the Emirates, Old Trafford, the Etihad, White Hart Lane, Selhurst Park, Vicarage Road...as well as Anfield and Stamford Bridge.

But why is that a problem? Leicester are fantastic on the road, so vibrant on the counter-attack. If City win at Anfield, they would equal the club's best run of five consecutive away league wins and would match their longest unbeaten streak on the road of 13 matches. There is nothing to fear.

City have got some testing away games. But so have Arsenal. They've still got to go to Liverpool, United, Tottenham, Everton, and Man City.

Leicester, too, have one huge advantage. They don't have to play Leicester. Don't underestimate that.

Okay, but no one is expecting Leicester to win now. What about when that changes. How will they deal with that pressure?

Who knows. They haven't battled for a Premier League title before. But the club's recent history would suggest they just might be able to hack it.

Take last season. When they were under the most intense of pressures, fighting for their lives after months at the bottom, they performed. They won seven of their last nine games, right when it mattered.

And, don't forget, 10 of City's squad were at the club when they marched to the Championship crown in style two seasons ago.

Half of those make up the spine of the current team: goalkeeper Schmeichel, captain and centre-back Wes Morgan, influential midfielder Danny Drinkwater as well as goal machines Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

Yes, it might not have been the Premier League trophy they lifted, but these players know what it takes to win titles. Do Arsenal's
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Are you sure you haven't missed anything out

comment by Mr Mourinho (U5874)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by cityfox (U1154)
posted 10 hours, 26 minutes ago
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Are you sure you haven't missed anything out
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If they have I'm sure Arro will point it out

These Leicester Mercury articles are starting to drive me up the wall. They're all either declarations of arrogance or click-bait about how everything /might/ crash down around our ears because of an unsubstantiated transfer rumour.

Most Leicester fans I know are in a state of partial disbelief but just enjoying this crazed, ethereal, anomalous ride. We dream of it lasting to the end of the season and beyond, while knowing the likelihood is that it won't. Sensationalist articles like those coming out of the LM just make us all look like muppets.

Dunk i woke here in the sandpit well its more like a quagmire as its been raining for two days but i digress.
I took a look at the premiership and for a few seconds i could not find Leicester and begger there we where at the top. This is ridiculous a mistake or i am still dreaming as if it rains in the desert?